World Trade Center museum to receive 9/11 victims’ remains

New York City plans to move the remains of unidentified victims in the 2001 terror attack to a new resting place within the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

The roughly 8,000 unidentified remains, which are in the custody of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, will be moved to the museum this year, spokeswoman Julie Bolcer said.

“We’re getting ready,” said city Medical Examiner’s Office spokeswoman Julie Bolcer. “We’re planning the move.”

Lee Ielpi, whose firefighter son, Jonathan, died on 9/11, said the remains should be moved in a solemn motorcade “with clergy of all religions to show the world how we treat our dead, murdered on 9/11, with respect and dignity.”

The “remains repository” will be hidden from view behind a wall engraved with a quote by Virgil: “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.” The space will include an ME’s office, to continue DNA-ID efforts, and a family visiting room.

Only medical examiners and families of victims will be given access to the repository, according to the spokesperson for both the museum and the medical examiner's office.

Some 9/11 relatives strongly oppose putting the remains in the museum — which will charge $24 for admission — saying visitors should not have to fork over cash to pay their respects.

The decision to house remains in the museum repository has been controversial.

In 2011, 17 families of 9/11 victims filed a petition in court to force the museum to consult with the victims' families before deciding what to do with the remains. They eventually asked for a congressional hearing. Both efforts were unsuccessful.

On its website, the museum said the decision to move the remains to the repository at the museum was because of overwhelming feedback received from families after the attacks.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum is scheduled to open this spring as part of the part of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center site.

DNA identifications of the unidentified remains will continue in the new repository, according to the museum.

In New York, 2,753 people were killed when hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were intentionally crashed into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center. A total of 2,977 people were killed in New York, Washington and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Monday 24 March 2014

http://nypost.com/2014/03/23/world-trade-center-museum-to-receive-911-victims-remains/

http://www.abc15.com/news/national/911-remains-to-be-moved-to-spot-within-museum